LASR VS MantisX – Comparing These Training Tools

I received an email today from a Guardian Nation member asking for advice in their decision to purchase either MantisX or LASR. I was caught off guard.

I didn't have an immediate response because I don't think of the two products as competing products. So I'm writing this in response to that member so as to compare these two tools and help the consumer decide which is the better purchase.

The MantisX is really an ideal tool for diagnosing grip and trigger manipulation problems. It analyzes the movement of the gun in the microseconds before and when you press the trigger and break the shot. An analysis of those movements helps one know what they are doing in those moments to “disturb” the gun and take it off target when the shot breaks.

LASR, on the other hand, is a software program that provides feedback relating to speed and accuracy when using any sort of laser training firearm or device. Using a standard webcam or the camera on your phone it “sees” the dot from your laser training device on a flat surface and records that as a shot in the software. This allows one to run any sort of shooting session and see where every shot impacted the target as well as the split times between shots.

What Is Your Training Objective?

The use of both or either of these tools will improve your shooting skills but if you are trying to decide where to allocate your hard-earned money between these two products you may have a challenge.

So ask yourself what you need most to improve as a shooter. If you know your shot groupings are not consistent or they are consistent but are not on the bullseye then the MantisX can likely help you figure out what your challenge is. Are you anticipating recoil? Are you applying pressure to the trigger that pulls it to one side or the other as you press it to the rear? If you really don't know what you are doing wrong MantisX is going to be a great tool to help you.

If you want to run various drills in dry fire and measure your speed or have actual accuracy-related feedback LASR is going to be a great help. If you want to drop your draw time or your reload time or work on target transitions in dry fire MantisX really isn't going to help with any of those things. LASR will.

LASR does require that you have some sort of laser training device you can use. Either a Laser gun like a SIRT pistol or a laser cartridge insert that will project a laser “shot” when you squeeze a trigger is necessary when using LASR. But if you have that tool in place then LASR open up a whole world for you.

Put 3 targets up on the wall a few feet apart and work on your target transitions. Using the miss zone feature of LASR you will be able to see how accurate your shots are and you can see how quickly you can do those transitions. See how fast you have to go before you start missing. Save that information to the LASR community and when you come back a week later train that skill again and see if you improve.

Target transitions are just the beginning. Speed of draw to first shot, reloads, working with cover, moving while shooting, and almost every other shooting skill can be practiced and can be measured with the feedback LASR will give you. It truly is the best tool amongst the actual competitors in the “Products that see lasers coming out of training guns and give you shot data from that” space.

MantisX does not know your point of impact when you fire the gun. It isn't meant to measure split times.

As a firearm instructor, I feel that nothing matters more in helping a shooter develop skills more than a solid grip and the ability to press the trigger without disturbing the rest of the gun. It sounds simple but this is where over 90% of my students struggle the most. I see a lot of students pay big bucks for advanced training only to walk away from the class with proper grip and trigger mechanics being the biggest takeaway they paid for.

MantisX is the diagnostic tool to help you figure out what you are doing wrong and about 95% of the time it is helpful in knowing how to correct that deficiency. So yeah, it matters and it can be a great tool to help you iron out and master the most critical and yet fundamental skill you need as a shooter.

LASR is a dry fire only tool whereas MantisX can be used in dry fire, live fire, or even with CO2 airsoft guns. MantisX also is ready to go out the door with your existing firearm whereas LASR requires having or purchasing some sort of laser training device.

Other Tools For Dry Fire You Should Also Consider

My goal here was first to communicate that in dry fire there are different skills you are trying to build and ultimately there is no single tool or combination of tools that allow you to have it all. You need an assortment of tools to achieve all the various objectives and MantisX and LASR are both important tools in the toolbox.

My second goal is to help you understand each of these tools enough to help you decide which may be the NEXT thing you need in your dry fire toolbox.

About Jacob Paulsen

Jacob S. Paulsen is the President of ConcealedCarry.com. ConcealedCarry.com provides in-person and online firearm training for American gun owners. The Company is currently teaching in-person classes in 25+ states with a team of more than 55 instructors. Jacob is a NRA certified instructor & Range Safety Officer, USCCA certified instructor and training counselor, Utah BCI instructor, Affiliate instructor for Next Level Training, Graduate and certified instructor for The Law of Self Defense, and a Glock and Sig Sauer Certified Armorer. He resides in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with his wife and children.